The lawyer for Omar Khadr, the only Western citizen still behind bars at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Saturday he is not surprised at the news the military prison may not close by the deadline set by U.S. President Barack Obama.

On Friday, the U.S. government acknowledged that the prison might not be closed by January 2010 — the deadline that Obama set during his first week in office in January of this year.

"It doesn't surprise me," lawyer Dennis Edney said in Edmonton.

"I understand that the Obama administration was advised from the outset not to make that — what I would suggest was a brave statement — [that] it would close Guantanamo Bay, because there were no details about how he was going to do that [and] when he was going to do that," Edney said.

He said Khadr was not aware of the possible delay in closing the prison.

In a statement issued Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the Canadian government's position on Khadr hasn't changed, insisting he stands accused of a serious crime. Canada says it won't intervene until the U.S. government is done with him.

Toronto-born Khadr was captured by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15. He has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since October 2002.

The U.S. accuses Khadr of throwing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Christopher Speer, but leaked documents have called into question the Pentagon's murder case against Khadr.

Khadr has been stuck in legal limbo since the swearing-in of Obama, who vowed to close Guantanamo and repatriate all but its most serious prisoners.

On Sept. 4, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the Canadian government's appeal of a ruling forcing Ottawa to press for the release of Khadr from Guantanamo.